August 21-

The Denali Highway- did I mention that all “highways” (that would be any road that goes more than 20 miles 🙂 have names and route numbers, however no one ever uses the route number! The Denali Highway goes across south central Alaska- and it is gravel- some of it very rough gravel. It is probably the most scenic drive in all of Alaska – spacious views across taiga, foothills, river valleys to mountains and glaciers. We happened across it during Caribou hunting season, so the whole road was crawling with campers, trucks, atvs and hunters!

This road is a geological goldmine! We parked on the side of the road one night on the top of an esker- a long ridge of sand, gravel and stone created by a river underneath the glacier thousands of years ago. This one was a couple miles long and gently curvy. We had great views of the entire valley 15 miles to the mountains on either side. There was a gold mining area along this road until the 1990s. We also went by kettle ponds- formed when chunks of glacier settled and melted. And this new one for us- palsas- 20ft high dome-like mounds formed by frost, full of peat.

So, have I mentioned the weather here lately? Well, it is…let me be nice…it is cloudy, showery, overcast, and rainy most of the time. In the last 12 days we have had one day of sun and just a few glimpses of the sun every now and again. The locals are telling us this is the wettest summer they have seen in a long time…great 😦 This weather is very much like what we experienced in Texas on the Gulf Coast last winter- ugh! In the six weeks we have been in Alaska, we have maybe had 6 sunny days! Much of this wet weather comes from the west and the south- from the ocean. We are heading north tomorrow towards Fairbanks- hoping for sunnier days. All the wet has been beneficial for some things:

Birch Lake State Park- pretty little lake, the weather cleared, hardly anyone here. We met a military chopper pilot that told us what he liked about the Dalton Highway- Atigun Pass. As night came on, I was hopeful that the skies would stay clear so we could see the Northern Lights- this is the low end of the 10-12 year cycle of solar flares. I follow an Alaska University website that predicts the Lights and tonight is a possible. So I set my alarm for 1am and got up. YAY! I watched for about 2 hours and did see the Northern Lights, from right inside the camper mostly as it was cold outside. No spectacular colors, but distinct patterns in the sky.
Stopped in Delta Junction the “end” of the Alaska Highway, which we started weeks ago in Dawson Creek, BC

 

 

Fairbanks- the campground is within the city limits- between the airport and downtown! Did our errands and got re-stocked to head up the Dalton highway.